ACL compiles a daily media monitoring service of stories of interest to the Christian constituency relating to children, family, drugs and alcohol, marriage, human rights, religious freedom etc. Visit the ACL’s website each day to see what’s of interest in the news. Please note that selection of the articles does not represent ACL endorsement of the content.

Daily deal websites offering cheap surgery breach legal and ethical standards, doctors warn. The sites that are known for cheap dinners and discount holidays are also selling laser eye treatment and cosmetic procedures that have to be paid for upfront without a face-to-face consultation - and buyers might not be suitable for surgery.

Do you allow your under-18 kids a glass of bubbly on special occasions? Rethink that strategy. Research shows it does more harm than good. Parents are being urged by experts in alcohol research not to allow their under-age kids to drink - and to model responsible drinking habits themselves.

Melbourne hospitals are warning their emergency departments to expect admissions of patients affected by a controversial new drug MDPV, known on the street as bath salts. The synthetic drug, which can be snorted, injected or smoked, is derived from mephedrone. It is reported to have effects similar to ecstasy and cocaine but can cause psychotic-like symptoms.

Yet again the internet has undermined the best intentions of While smokeless e-cigarettes are banned in Australia, they are increasingly available online. The question legislators are facing is not how to police the life-threatening habit of smoking, but how to write laws that effectively deal with online trade that frustrates their attempts to regulate.

Religion and ethics taught from a secular perspective might be included in the new national curriculum, says Barry McGaw, the head of the board responsible for the curriculum. Professor McGaw, the chairman of the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, said religion and ethics would be included in a discussion paper early next year for the civics and citizenship course.

I once called euthanasia, “heroin.” My point was–-and is-–that once a culture starts mainlining mercy killing, it will always wants more. And now a Dutch euthanasia advocacy groups wants to create mobile euthanasia clinics. From the CBS story: “The main Dutch euthanasia advocacy group says it supports creating ‘mobile’ euthanasia teams of doctors for terminally ill patients who want to die in their own homes, rather than in a hospital".

Labor's left faction has vowed not to support a conscience vote on same-sex marriage and to maintain the fight against uranium sales to India. About 150 delegates gathered in Canberra today to shape their agenda ahead of next month's ALP national conference.

You know it's the real Julia when the initials, JG, appear after a tweet. There it was last week when the Prime Minister hit the social media site to explain her proposals to export uranium to India and propose a conscience vote on gay marriage. It wasn't there in a previous tweet explaining the role of the Governor-General, which was signed off with TeamJG - the sign a staffer provided the information.

The case of the unhappy hooker has set red lights flashing all over Queensland. The lady of pleasure who goes by the initials GK launched an anti-discrimination claim against the Drover's Rest Motel in Moranbah after it declared there was no room at the inn for her or others plying her ancient trade.

Sex workers are skirting anti-brothel laws with clever leasing arrangements that allow them to operate in the same building. One of Hobart's longest-running erotic massage parlours has been able to stay open despite brothels being banned in late 2005.

The United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and a host of other nations, keep on sending economic support to Afghanistan and how do the leaders of this nation respond? Yes, they still support an ongoing Islamic inquisition whereby every Muslim convert to Buddhism, Hindusim or Christianity faces the death penalty.

An evangelist was shot dead here on Wednesday (Nov. 16) by an unidentified gunman in what his family believes was a radical Muslim group’s targeting of a Christian. Zahid Jameel, 25, told Compass that his father, Jameel Saawan, and a helper were opening the doors of their cosmetics shop in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of Pakistan’s commercial hub of Karachi on Wednesday morning when a young man appeared and shot his father, first in the neck and then in the face.

Children should not be subjected to the risks and pressures of beauty pageants, says South Australia's Minister for the Status of Women Gail Gago. There is strong evidence about the impact of sexualisation on girls and young women, Ms Gago says. "Research has linked sexualisation with three of the most common mental health problems for girls and women - eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression," she said.

Pop star Stan Walker has opened up about his sad and brutal childhood - including claims of physical and sexual abuse. Australian Idol winner Walker, 21, often compared his upbringing with the brutal domestic violence movie, Once Were Warriors.

Years ago I worked at a company that was trialling an experimental drug for terminal lung cancer. The drug was vastly expensive and not particularly effective - less than 50 per cent of patients responded, and even among responders it extended life only by a few months. Even so, patients who had exhausted all their options - or rather, their families - were pounding at our doors to get hold of it. In the internet age nothing stays secret for long and soon families whose relatives were dying of cancers other than those of the lung also started calling us, desperate for this drug. There was no legal way we could give them the medication but some family members persisted and would ring to harangue us on a daily basis.